Superbikes | Michael Van der Mark talks about himself

I decided I wanted to be a pilot quite late. I think I was 11, we went to the Assen TT and I had the opportunity to sit on Valentino Rossi's M1. From that moment, I told my father: “I want to run!” But to be honest, I knew I was already old enough because I was almost 12 years old.

My goal is to become world champion and I don't think about anything else. When I crossed the finish line to become (WorldSSP) champion, I don't know what I was thinking. You need time to realize it. It's something you want and dream about for a long time, it's incredible.

My father was a pilot before I was born and it was lucky for me. He never pushed me to run, he let me decide when to start. My parents supported me and so did my sister. It was lucky to have my father, he made all his experience available to find sponsors and everything else.

I wouldn't say I have a great family legacy behind me, there are only workers. My father has a transport company and, to be honest, when I started racing, he and the company were going through a difficult time.

I am quite calm, but I can be aggressive and sometimes even angry. I think I inherited this from my mother, my Indonesian side.

This Indonesian origin is quite funny because many people don't know about it. Then seeing my mother, then yes, I inherited some features from her. It all started because I posted a video on Instagram about Indonesian cuisine, and you see the power of social networks! I have a lot of fans in Indonesia and I hope to race there.

Racing with Troy Bayliss in my first races at Phillip Island was something really nice. No one will be able to drive like him.

Then, in Thailand, I had a battle with Troy. He was like a child, jumping all over the place and crossing the grass! But during some laps we had the same pace and I thought how could this be? I had never seen anything like it in my life.

When I won at Donington Park it was amazing because nothing extraordinary happened, it was the result that made it special. The whole weekend had been strange. I had been ill the previous days and I think I actually finished last in FP2. Everyone improved in the second race, but we decided not to change anything to the bike... And we won again! It was truly special!

To relax, I lie on the sofa and look outside. It's difficult to completely disconnect, there are always motorbikes on one side or another rather than someone talking about motorbikes. So I do what I like most: sleep!